The cup of tea that we all enjoy today has a long and colorful history that dates back thousands of years. There are a number of very interesting legends that surround it and the way that tea came to be used as a beverage for a vast number of peoples the world over.
Shennong and the ‘discovery’ of tea in China
Shennong was a folk hero and the emperor of China almost 5000 years ago. He is credited with having taught the Chinese people the principles of agriculture. Rather aptly, his name means Divine Farmer and he is said to have taught his people about cultivation of food grains.
Legend has it that his servants had instructions to boil water before serving him so that it was always pure and healthy to drink. One day when traveling he and his army stopped for a rest and his servant was boiling his water when the leaves from a nearby bush fell into the water. This infused the water with taste, color and fragrance, which the emperor found agreeable and refreshing; thus started the long journey of tea from China that culminates into yours and my tea cup!
The Legend of Bodhi Dharma
This was the 5th century Buddhist monk from southern India who traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China, set himself the task of wall gazing for 9 years while not speaking at all. 7 years into his task he is said to have fallen asleep. Being highly disgusted with himself and his eyes for falling asleep, legend has it; he cut off his eyelids and threw them to the ground. Where his eyelids fell, tea plants sprang up and thus came about the association between tea plants and their ability to keep awake students of meditation.
In the early days, tea was associated with aristocracy and the priestly classes and was seen as expensive and exclusive in Japan. Later tea drinking became more common; particular as its medicinal properties came to be more widely recognized. There was high demand in other countries for tea so that its trade was also highly prized and the tea trade out of China flourished.
Tea in the West
The west’s association with tea is only some hundreds of years old, when explorers such as Jan Hugo van Linschooten, the Dutch navigator introduced the concept to parts of Europe. Tea was introduced into America in or about the 17th century and it then, quite apparently, never left!
Tags: China, discovery, Health, history, Japan, legend, tea, trade
[...] it is true that tea is said to have originated in China some 5000 years ago, tea is also indigenous to India and has been drunk there for nearly 3000 [...]